Prior to establishing the permanent select committee in 1977, the House of Representatives established the "Select Committee on Intelligence", commonly referred to as the "Pike Committee", so named after its last chairman, Otis G. Pike of New York. The select committee had originally been established in February 1975 under the chairmanship of Congressman Lucien Nedzi of Michigan. Following Nedzi's resignation in June, the committee was reconstituted with Pike as chair, in July 1975, with its mandate expiring January 31, 1976. Under Pike's chairmanship, the committee investigated illegal activities by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

The final report of the Pike Committee was never officially published, due to Congressional opposition. However, unauthorized versions of the draft final report were leaked to the press. CBS News reporter Daniel Schorr was called to testify before Congress, but refused to divulge his source.[1] Major portions of the report were published by The Village Voice, and a full copy of the draft was published in England.

In 2017, the committee was tasked along with the SSCI to determine the degree of Russian interference in 2016 US elections.[3] The committee also has been investigating allegations of wiretapping of President Donald Trump as well as ties between Russian officials and members of Donald Trump's presidential campaign.[4][5] The committee has come under intense scrutiny in 2017-2018 due to allegations of partisanship and leaks of classified information by members of the committee and their staff. In March 2018, the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 elections was abruptly ended by the committee's Republican members despite the assertion by Democratic members that the investigation was incomplete and had failed to properly go about gathering pertinent information. Notably, House Intelligence Republicans released a draft of their investigatory report which broke in some areas from the findings of the U.S. Intelligence Community and was written without the input of House Democrats.[6][7] In the wake of bitter divides in the committee's findings, House Intelligence Republican congressman Tom Rooney claimed the committee had "lost all credibility" and had become "a political forum for people to leak information to drive the day's news."[8] In July 2018, the chair of the committee, Representative Devin Nunes, accused the Department of Justice, and its Federal Bureau of Investigations, of "stonewalling" the committees investigation and taking partisan sides in regard to its Russia investigation.[9]

1.
United States congressional committee
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A congressional committee is a legislative sub-organization in the United States Congress that handles a specific duty. Committee membership enables members to develop specialized knowledge of the matters under their jurisdiction, woodrow Wilson once wrote, it is not far from the truth to say that Congress in session is Congress on public exhibition, whilst Congress in its committee rooms is Congress at work. It is neither expected nor possible that a member of Congress be an expert on all matters, Congressional committees provide valuable informational services to Congress by investigating and reporting about specialized subjects. Congress divides its legislative, oversight, and internal administrative tasks among approximately 200 committees and subcommittees, of the 73 discharge petitions submitted to the full House from 1995 through 2007, only one was successful in securing a definitive yea-or-nay vote for a bill. The growing autonomy of committees has fragmented the power of each chamber as a unit. This dispersion of power has weakened the legislative branch relative to the other two branches of the federal government, the executive branch and the judiciary branch. In his often cited article History of the House of Representatives, written in 1961, galloway wrote, In practice, Congress functions not as a unified institution, but as a collection of semi-autonomous committees that seldom act in unison. Galloway went on to cite committee autonomy as a factor interfering with the adoption of a coherent legislative program, such autonomy remains a characteristic feature of the committee system in Congress today. This reform was abolished in a 1935 counterattack led by the intra-House oligarchy, thus the era of the Great Depression marks the last across-the-board change, albeit a short-lived one, in the autonomy of House standing committees. The 1946 act reduced the number of House committees from 48 to 19, jurisdictions of all committees were codified by rule in their respective chambers, which helped consolidate or eliminate many existing committees and minimize jurisdictional conflicts. There are no limits on the number of subcommittees in the U. S. Senate, Congress has convened several other temporary review committees to analyze and make recommendations on ways to reform and improve the committee system. For example, the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1970 led to further reforms to open Congress to further public visibility, strengthen its decision-making capacities, the first Senate committee was established April 7,1789, to draw up Senate rules of procedure. In those early days, the Senate operated with temporary select committees and this system provided a great deal of flexibility, as if one committee proved unresponsive, another could be established in its place. The Senate could also forgo committee referral for actions on legislation or presidential nominations and these early committees generally consisted of three members for routine business and five members for more important issues. The largest committee established during the 1st Congress had eleven members and this system proved ineffective, so in 1816 the Senate adopted a formal system of 11 standing committees with five members each. Three of those committees, the Finance, Foreign Relations and the Judiciary Committees exist largely unchanged today, with the advent of this new system, committees are able to handle long-term studies and investigations, in addition to regular legislative duties. According to the Senate Historical Office, the significance of the change from temporary to permanent committees was perhaps little realized at the time. With the growing responsibilities of the Senate, the committees gradually grew to be the key policy-making bodies of the Senate, by 1906, the Senate maintained 66 standing and select committees—eight more committees than members of the majority party

2.
United States House of Representatives
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The United States House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the United States Congress which, along with the Senate, composes the legislature of the United States. The composition and powers of the House are established by Article One of the United States Constitution, since its inception in 1789, all representatives are elected popularly. The total number of voting representatives is fixed by law at 435, the House is charged with the passage of federal legislation, known as bills, which, after concurrence by the Senate, are sent to the President for consideration. The presiding officer is the Speaker of the House, who is elected by the members thereof and is traditionally the leader of the controlling party. He or she and other leaders are chosen by the Democratic Caucus or the Republican Conferences. The House meets in the wing of the United States Capitol. Under the Articles of Confederation, the Congress of the Confederation was a body in which each state was equally represented. All states except Rhode Island agreed to send delegates, the issue of how to structure Congress was one of the most divisive among the founders during the Convention. The House is referred to as the house, with the Senate being the upper house. Both houses approval is necessary for the passage of legislation, the Virginia Plan drew the support of delegates from large states such as Virginia, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania, as it called for representation based on population. The smaller states, however, favored the New Jersey Plan, the Constitution was ratified by the requisite number of states in 1788, but its implementation was set for March 4,1789. The House began work on April 1,1789, when it achieved a quorum for the first time, during the first half of the 19th century, the House was frequently in conflict with the Senate over regionally divisive issues, including slavery. The North was much more populous than the South, and therefore dominated the House of Representatives, However, the North held no such advantage in the Senate, where the equal representation of states prevailed. Regional conflict was most pronounced over the issue of slavery, One example of a provision repeatedly supported by the House but blocked by the Senate was the Wilmot Proviso, which sought to ban slavery in the land gained during the Mexican–American War. Conflict over slavery and other issues persisted until the Civil War, the war culminated in the Souths defeat and in the abolition of slavery. Because all southern senators except Andrew Johnson resigned their seats at the beginning of the war, the years of Reconstruction that followed witnessed large majorities for the Republican Party, which many Americans associated with the Unions victory in the Civil War and the ending of slavery. The Reconstruction period ended in about 1877, the ensuing era, the Democratic and the Republican Party held majorities in the House at various times. The late 19th and early 20th centuries also saw an increase in the power of the Speaker of the House

3.
Devin Nunes
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Devin Gerald Nunes, GOIH /ˈnuːˌnɛs/, is a Republican U. S. Representative for Californias 22nd congressional district, serving since 2003 and he serves as chairman of the United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and served as a member of President Trumps transition team. Nuness district, numbered as the 21st from 2003 to 2013, is in the San Joaquin Valley and includes most of western Tulare County, in early 2017, he was criticized for his alleged bias in a Congressional investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections. Nunes stepped aside from leading that investigation, but remains chairman for other purposes. Nunes was born on October 1,1973, in Tulare, California and his family has operated a farm in Tulare County for three generations. The Nunes family is of Portuguese descent, immigrating from the Azores to California and he unseated an 18-year incumbent on the Board of Trustees of his alma mater, the College of the Sequoias, earning 65% of the vote. In 2001, he was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve as California State Director for the United States Department of Agricultures Rural Development section. In 2002 Nunes ran for the Republican nomination in the 21st congressional district and his principal opponents in the crowded seven-way primary were former Fresno mayor Jim Patterson and state Assemblyman Mike Briggs. Nunes was the major candidate from Tulare County, Patterson. This was critical, as 58% of the population was in Tulare County. Patterson and Briggs split the vote in Fresno County, allowing Nunes to win by a four-point margin over Patterson, Nunes won 46. 5% of the vote in Tulare County and 28. 1% of the vote in Fresno County. Nunes was also helped by a showing in the rural part of the district. He won the endorsements of the California Farm Bureau and the Fresno Bee, the district is solidly Republican, and Nunes coasted to victory in November. He has been reelected seven times against only nominal Democratic opposition, during the June 8,2010, primary, Nunes actually received more write-in votes in the Democratic primary than the Democratic write-in candidate. He ran unopposed in the 2010 general election, Nunes district was renumbered the 22nd after the 2010 census. It lost most of eastern Tulare County to the neighboring 23rd District, despite these changes, it is no less Republican than its predecessor. In April 2016, Nunes voted for the Preventing IRS Abuse and Protecting Free Speech Act, the bill lessened the ability of the IRS to know the names of donors to so-called social welfare nonprofit groups, 501s, which increased after the Citizens United decision. The information on donors assists the IRS with ensuring that foreign funds do not covertly enter U. S. election politics, since that vote, the U. S. intelligence community has officially concluded that the Russian government interfered in the U. S. election

4.
United States Intelligence Community
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Member organizations of the IC include intelligence agencies, military intelligence, and civilian intelligence and analysis offices within federal executive departments. The IC is headed by the Director of National Intelligence, who reports to the President of the United States, among their varied responsibilities, the members of the Community collect and produce foreign and domestic intelligence, contribute to military planning, and perform espionage. The IC was established by Executive Order 12333, signed on December 4,1981, the term Intelligence Community was first used during Lt. Gen. Walter Bedell Smiths tenure as Director of Central Intelligence. Intelligence is information that agencies collect, analyze, and distribute in response to government leaders questions, safeguarding these processes and this information through counterintelligence activities. Execution of covert operations approved by the President. S, international terrorist and/or narcotics activities, and other hostile activities directed against the U. S. The IC is headed by the Director of National Intelligence, whose leadership is exercised through the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Under the law, the DNI is responsible for directing and overseeing the NIP, the MIP is directed and controlled by the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence. In 2005 the Department of Defense combined the Joint Military Intelligence Program, since the definitions of the NIP and MIP overlap when they address military intelligence, assignment of intelligence activities to the NIP and MIP sometimes proves problematic. The overall organization of the IC is primarily governed by the National Security Act of 1947, the statutory organizational relationships were substantially revised with the 2004 Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act amendments to the 1947 National Security Act. Prior to 2004, the Director of Central Intelligence was the head of the IC, following the passage of IRTPA in 2004, the head of the IC is the Director of National Intelligence. The member elements in the branch are directed and controlled by their respective department heads. By law, only the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency reports to the DNI, in light of major intelligence failures in recent years that called into question how well Intelligence Community ensures U. S. Attempts to modernize and facilitate cooperation within the IC include technological, structural, procedural. The U. S. intelligence budget in fiscal year 2013 was appropriated as $52.7 billion, in fiscal year 2012 it peaked at $53.9 billion, according to a disclosure required under a recent law implementing recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. The 2012 figure was up from $53.1 billion in 2010, $49.8 billion in 2009, $47.5 billion in 2008, $43.5 billion in 2007, and $40.9 billion in 2006. About 70 percent of the budget went to contractors for the procurement of technology and services. Intelligence spending has increased by a third over ten years ago, in inflation-adjusted dollars, according to the Center for Strategic, how the money is divided among the 16 intelligence agencies and what it is spent on is classified. It includes salaries for about 100,000 people, multibillion-dollar satellite programs, aircraft, weapons, electronic sensors, intelligence analysis, spies, computers, and software

5.
United States Department of Defense
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The Department is the largest employer in the world, with nearly 1.3 million active duty servicemen and women as of 2016. Adding to its employees are over 801,000 National Guardsmen and Reservists from the four services and it is headquartered at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, just outside of Washington, D. C. The Department of Defense is headed by the Secretary of Defense, Military operations are managed by nine regional or functional Unified Combatant Commands. The Department of Defense also operates several joint services schools, including the National Defense University, the history of the defense of the United States started with the Continental Congress in 1775. The creation of the United States Army was enacted on 14 June 1775 and this coincides with the American holiday Flag Day. The Second Continental Congress would charter the United States Navy, on 13 October 1775, today, both the Navy and the Marine Corps are separate military services subordinate to the Department of the Navy. The Preamble of the United States Constitution gave the authority to federal government, to defend its citizens and this first Congress had a huge agenda, that of creating legislation to build a government for the ages. Legislation to create a military defense force stagnated, two separate times, President George Washington went to Congress to remind them of their duty to establish a military. In a special message to Congress on 19 December 1945, the President cited both wasteful military spending and inter-departmental conflicts, deliberations in Congress went on for months focusing heavily on the role of the military in society and the threat of granting too much military power to the executive. The act placed the National Military Establishment under the control of a single Secretary of Defense, the National Military Establishment formally began operations on 18 September, the day after the Senate confirmed James V. Forrestal as the first Secretary of Defense. The National Military Establishment was renamed the Department of Defense on 10 August 1949, under the Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1958, channels of authority within the department were streamlined, while still maintaining the authority of the Military Departments. Also provided in this legislation was a centralized authority, the Advanced Research Projects Agency. The Act moved decision-making authority from the Military Departments to the Joint Chiefs of Staff and it also strengthened the command channel of the military over U. S. forces from the President to the Secretary of Defense. Written and promoted by the Eisenhower administration, it was signed into law 6 August 1958, because the Constitution vests all military authority in Congress and the President, the statutory authority of the Secretary of Defense is derived from their constitutional authorities. Department of Defense Directive 5100.01 describes the relationships within the Department. The latest version, signed by former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates in December 2010, is the first major re-write since 1987, the Office of the Secretary of Defense is the Secretary and Deputy Secretarys civilian staff. S. Government departments and agencies, foreign governments, and international organizations, OSD also performs oversight and management of the Defense Agencies and Department of Defense Field Activities. OSD also supervises the following Defense Agencies, Several defense agencies are members of the United States Intelligence Community and these are national-level intelligence services that operate under the jurisdiction of the Department of Defense but simultaneously fall under the authorities of the Director of National Intelligence

6.
United States Armed Forces
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The United States Armed Forces are the federal armed forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, from the time of its inception, the military played a decisive role in the history of the United States. A sense of unity and identity was forged as a result of victory in the First Barbary War. Even so, the Founders were suspicious of a permanent military force and it played an important role in the American Civil War, where leading generals on both sides were picked from members of the United States military. Not until the outbreak of World War II did a standing army become officially established. The National Security Act of 1947, adopted following World War II and during the Cold Wars onset, the U. S. military is one of the largest militaries in terms of number of personnel. It draws its personnel from a pool of paid volunteers. As of 2016, the United States spends about $580.3 billion annually to fund its military forces, put together, the United States constitutes roughly 40 percent of the worlds military expenditures. For the period 2010–14, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute found that the United States was the worlds largest exporter of major arms, the United States was also the worlds eighth largest importer of major weapons for the same period. The history of the U. S. military dates to 1775 and these forces demobilized in 1784 after the Treaty of Paris ended the War for Independence. All three services trace their origins to the founding of the Continental Army, the Continental Navy, the United States President is the U. S. militarys commander-in-chief. Rising tensions at various times with Britain and France and the ensuing Quasi-War and War of 1812 quickened the development of the U. S. Navy, the reserve branches formed a military strategic reserve during the Cold War, to be called into service in case of war. Time magazines Mark Thompson has suggested that with the War on Terror, Command over the armed forces is established in the United States Constitution. The sole power of command is vested in the President by Article II as Commander-in-Chief, the Constitution also allows for the creation of executive Departments headed principal officers whose opinion the President can require. This allowance in the Constitution formed the basis for creation of the Department of Defense in 1947 by the National Security Act, the Defense Department is headed by the Secretary of Defense, who is a civilian and member of the Cabinet. The Defense Secretary is second in the chain of command, just below the President. Together, the President and the Secretary of Defense comprise the National Command Authority, to coordinate military strategy with political affairs, the President has a National Security Council headed by the National Security Advisor. The collective body has only power to the President

7.
Select or special committee
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A select or special committee of the United States Congress is a congressional committee appointed to perform a special function that is beyond the authority or capacity of a standing committee. A select committee is created by a resolution that outlines its duties and powers. Select and special committees are often investigative in nature, rather than legislative, though some select and special committees have the authority to draft, a select committee generally expires on completion of its designated duties, though they can be renewed. Several select committees are treated as standing committees by House and Senate rules, examples of this are the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence in the House and the Select Committee on Intelligence in the Senate. The Senate Indian Affairs Committee is also a committee, though the name select is no longer a part of its title. Some 20th-century select committees are called special committees, such as the Senate Special Committee on Aging, however, they do not differ in any substantive way from the others. Prior to the advent of permanent standing committees in the early 19th century, the committee system has grown and evolved over the years. During the earliest Congresses, select committees, created to perform a specific function, the first committee to be established by Congress was on April 2,1789, during the First Congress. It was a select committee assigned to prepare and report standing rules and orders for House proceedings, since that time, Congress has always relied on committees as a means to accomplish its work. In the 1st Congress, the House appointed roughly 220 select committees over the course of two years, like the House, standing committees have largely replaced select committees in the modern Senate, but select committees continue to be appointed from time to time. Early select committees were very fluid, serving their established function and this makes tracking committees difficult, since many committees were known by the date they were created or by a petition or other document that had been referred to them. In a number of instances, the journal and other congressional publications did not consistently refer to an individual committee by the same title. Though such inconsistencies still appeared during the 20th century, they were less frequent, while earlier select committees often narrowly tailored to specific issues, some select committees ultimately had a noticeable impact on federal legislation and American history. One was the committee dealing with Missouris admission as a new state. The committee was established in 1821 and lasted just 7 days, chaired by Henry Clay, the committee helped draft the Missouri Compromise, which attempted to resolve the question of whether slavery would be permitted in newly admitted states. Some select committees went on to become permanent standing committees, the most notable of these is the Ways and Means Committee. It was first established as a select committee July 24,1789 during a debate on the creation of the Treasury Department and this first Committee on Ways and Means had 11 members and existed for just two months. It later became a committee in 1801, and still operates as a standing committee today

8.
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
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The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is the Democratic Hill committee for the United States House of Representatives, working to elect Democrats to that body. The DCCC recruit candidates, raise funds, and organize races in districts that are expected to yield politically notable or close elections. The structure of the consists, essentially, of the Chairperson, their staff. The Chairperson of the DCCC is the ranking position among House Democrats, after the Minority Leader, the Minority Whip. The DCCC originated in 1866 as the Democratic National Congressional Committee, the other organization, which makes independent expenditures in congressional districts on behalf of the campaigns, is not allowed to coordinate activities with the campaigns. In recent elections, the DCCC has played a role in supporting Democratic candidates with independently produced television ads. Rahm Emanuel assumed the position of DCCC committee chair after the death of the chair, Bob Matsui. Emanuel led the Democratic Partys effort to capture the majority in the House of Representatives in the 2006 elections, after Emanuels election as chairman of the Democratic Caucus, Chris Van Hollen became committee chair for the 110th Congress, and thus for the 2008 elections. He continued through the 2010 elections, for the 2014 election cycle, Democratic Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi appointed congressman Ben Ray Luján to serve as the committees chair. The press releases were repeating allegations from one of Adelsons former employees who filed a lawsuit, the DCCC repeated the charges in press releases that attacked Republicans Jim Renacci, Scott DesJarlais, and Jim Gerlach. The statements were untrue and unfair and we retract them, the DCCC extends its sincere apology to Mr. Adelson and his family for any injury we have caused. In July 2016, the DCCC said they were hacked, subsequently, a person described as a hacker and known as Guccifer 2.0 reportedly released documents and information that were obtained from the cyberattack on the DCCC. Of the four congressional committees, the DCCC, with a staff of 25, has the largest in-house research department. Discoveries go into hundred-page research books on their targets that are used as bait to recruit candidates, leaked to reporters or cited in campaign advertisements, the DCCCs support for the Occupy Wall Street movement attracted attention and caused some controversy. Politico reported in October 2011 that the DCCCs position on Occupy Wall Street was making Democratic contributors in the banking, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee National Republican Congressional Committee National Republican Senatorial Committee Official website

9.
Saxbe fix
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The rollback, first implemented by an Act of Congress in 1909, reverts the emoluments of the office to the amount they were when that member began his or her elected term. To prevent ethical conflicts, James Madison proposed language at the Constitutional Convention that was adopted as the Ineligibility Clause after debate, Members of Congress have been appointed to federal judgeships without any fix being enacted, court challenges to such appointments have failed. There were four Saxbe fixes for appointees of presidents prior to Barack Obama, the first two rollbacks concerned appointees of Republicans William Howard Taft and Richard Nixon, and the last two were implemented for appointees of Democrats Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton. Congress approved two more in the weeks preceding Obamas presidency in preparation for his designated Cabinet nominees, since the 1980s, Saxbe fixes have only been temporary, extending to the conclusion of the term for which the sitting member of Congress was elected. Madison wrote that corrupt legislative actions, in the form of the creation of offices. The delegates who were present agreed that no member of Congress should be eligible to be appointed to a position while serving in Congress. Madison originally proposed a length on such a bar. However, Nathaniel Gorham, James Wilson, and Alexander Hamilton wanted no bar at all at the conclusion of congressional service. Eventually, Madison proposed a compromise, that no office ought to be open to a member, which may be created or augmented while he is in the legislature and they eliminated the one-year ban because they judged it to be ineffective in protecting the Constitution. Charles Cotesworth Pinckney moved that the vote and the prohibition carried by vote of 8 states to 3. Madison moved that the phrase or the Emoluments whereof shall have been augmented by the legislature of the United States, during the time they were members thereof and this motion failed 2–8, with one state divided. The clause was limited to civil offices so as not to military service. Accordingly, the clause was passed in its current form without an explicit time consideration, article 1, Section 6, Clause 2 of the United States Constitution therefore prohibits self-dealing legislation and is intended to protect the separation of power of the various branches of government. Corruption such as seen in the British Parliament was a consideration during debate by the framers of the Constitution. Most scholarly texts on the Constitution ignore the clause, although the Saxbe fix is named for Nixon nominee William Saxbe, the devices first intentional use predates him by several decades. As a matter of tradition, the Saxbe fix is considered sufficient to remove the disqualification of the Ineligibility Clause. The Ineligibility Clause has interfered with appointments as far back as 1793, President George Washington attempted to appoint William Paterson to the Supreme Court on February 27,1793, after the resignation of Associate Justice Thomas Johnson. However, Paterson, who was serving as Governor of New Jersey, had previously elected to serve a Senate term that would expire at noon on March 4,1793

10.
Origination Clause
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The Origination Clause, sometimes called the Revenue Clause, is part of the United States Constitution. This clause says that all bills for raising revenue must start in the House of Representatives, the Origination Clause stemmed from an English parliamentary practice that all money bills must have their first reading in the House of Commons before being sent to the House of Lords. This clause was part of the Great Compromise between small and large states, the federal Constitution was written in 1787 and adopted in 1789. Prior to 1787, several state constitutions followed British practice by providing that money bills must start in the representative branch of the state legislature. Vesting the power of origination in the U. S, the framers adopted the Great Compromise on July 16,1787. At that point, the draft clause stated, all bills for raising or appropriating money. shall originate in the, and shall not be altered or amended by the. The Origination Clause was modified later in 1787 to reduce the Houses power by allowing the Senate to amend revenue bills, and by removing appropriation bills from the scope of the clause. However, a proposal was defeated that would have reduced the Houses power even more by changing bills for raising revenue to bills for raising money for the purpose of revenue. James Madison explained, In many acts, particularly in the regulations of trade, the raising of revenue would be one of them. How could it be determined which was the primary or predominant one, or whether it was necessary that revenue shd, be the sole object, in exclusion even of other incidental effects. Grayson was not convinced by Madisons argument that the first part of the clause is sufficiently expressed to exclude all doubts about where the origination must occur, in its final form, the Origination Clause was a major selling point for ratification of the Constitution. This clause resonated with a citizenry opposed to taxation without representation, many scholars have written about the Origination Clause. No one supposes, that a bill to any of the public lands, or to sell public stock, is a bill to raise revenue. The U. S. Supreme Court has decided several cases involving this clause, and all of those challenges to federal statutes failed. For example, in the 1911 case of Flint v. Stone Tracy Company, but, the plaintiffs in one lower court decision succeeded in striking down a federal statute on Origination Clause grounds. Twin City Bank v. Nebeker,167 U. S.196,202, what this means exactly is disputed. Regarding the latter view, Justice John Paul Stevens suggested in 1990 that its tendency was to convert the Origination Clause into a formal accounting requirement. A bill that lowers taxes instead of taxes may still be a bill for raising revenue

11.
United States congressional apportionment
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Each state is apportioned a number of seats which approximately corresponds to its share of the aggregate population of the 50 states. However, every state is guaranteed at least one seat. Because the size of a states total congressional delegation determines the size of its representation in the U. S, electoral College, congressional apportionment also affects the U. S. presidential election process as well. The number of voting seats in the House of Representatives is currently set to 435, the decennial apportionment also determines the size of each states representation in the U. S. Under Article II, Section 1, Clause 2 of the U. S. Constitution, federal law requires the Clerk of the House of Representatives to notify each state government of its entitled number of seats no later than January 25 of the year immediately following the census. Any citizen of the State can challenge the constitutionality of the redistricting in their US district court, for example, the electoral college apportionment during 2000 presidential election was still based on the 1990 census results. Likewise, the districts and the electoral college during the 2020 general elections will still be based on the 2010 census. The subject of Congressional apportionment is addressed twice in the U. S. Constitution, the size of the U. S. House of Representatives refers to total number of congressional districts into which the land area of the United States proper has been divided. The number of voting representatives is currently set at 435, there are an additional five delegates to the House of Representatives. They represent the District of Columbia and the territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, which first elected a representative in 2008, puerto Rico also elects a resident commissioner every four years. Prior to the 20th century, the number of representatives increased every decade as more states joined the union, and the population increased. In 1911, Public Law 62-5 raised the membership of the U. S. House to 433 with a provision to add one permanent seat each upon the admissions of Arizona, as provided, membership increased to 435 in 1912. As of May,2016, there is one representative for every 720,000 people in the state. In 1921, Congress failed to reapportion the House membership as required by the United States Constitution, then in 1929 Congress passed the Reapportionment Act of 1929 which capped the size of the House at 435. This cap has remained unchanged for more than eight decades, three states – Wyoming, Vermont, and North Dakota – have populations smaller than the average for a single district. The ideal number of members has been an issue since the countrys founding. George Washington agreed that the original representation proposed during the Constitutional Convention was inadequate and this was the only time that Washington pronounced an opinion on any of the actual issues debated during the entire convention. On a contrary supposition, I should admit the objection to have great weight indeed

12.
Gerrymandering in the United States
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Gerrymandering in the United States has been practiced since the founding of the country to strengthen the power of particular political interests within legislative bodies. Partisan gerrymandering is commonly used to increase the power of a political party, in some instances, political parties collude to protect incumbents by engaging in bipartisan gerrymandering. Throughout the 20th century, courts have grappled with the legality of these types of gerrymandering and have devised different standards for the different types of gerrymandering. Partisan gerrymandering, which refers to redistricting that favors one political party, has a tradition in the United States that precedes the 1789 election of the First U. S. Congress. In 1788, Patrick Henry and his Anti-Federalist allies were in control of the Virginia House of Delegates and they drew the boundaries of Virginias 5th congressional district in an unsuccessful attempt to keep James Madison out of the U. S. House of Representatives. The word gerrymander was used for the first time in the Boston Gazette on 26 March 1812, the word was created in reaction to a redrawing of Massachusetts state senate election districts under the then-governor Elbridge Gerry. In 1812, Governor Gerry signed a bill that redistricted Massachusetts to benefit his Democratic-Republican Party, when mapped, one of the contorted districts to the north of Boston was said to resemble the shape of a salamander. Gerrymander is a portmanteau of the governors last name and the word salamander, the redistricting was a notable success. In the 1812 election, both the Massachusetts House and governorship were won by Federalists by a margin, but the senate remained firmly in Democratic-Republican hands. The coiner of the term gerrymander may never be firmly established and this cartoon was most likely drawn by Elkanah Tisdale, an early 19th-century painter, designer, and engraver who was living in Boston at the time. The word gerrymander was reprinted numerous times in Federalist newspapers in Massachusetts, New England, gerrymandering soon began to be used to describe not only the original Massachusetts example, but also other cases of district-shape manipulation for partisan gain in other states. The first known use outside New England came in the New York Gazette & General Advertiser on 19 May, what may be the first use of the term to describe the redistricting in another state occurred in the Federal Republican on 12 October 1812. There are at least 80 known citations of the word from March through December 1812 in American newspapers, the practice of gerrymandering the borders of new states continued past the Civil War and into the late 19th century. The Republican Party used its control of Congress to secure the admission of more states in territories friendly to their party, a notable example is the admission of Dakota Territory as two states instead of one. By the rules for representation in the Electoral College, each new state carried at least three votes, regardless of its population. In Pennsylvania, the Republican-dominated state legislature used gerrymandering to help defeat Democratic representative Frank Mascara, Mascara was elected to Congress in 1994. In 2002, the Republican Party altered the boundaries of his district so much that he was pitted against fellow Democratic candidate John Murtha in the election. The shape of Mascaras newly drawn district formed a finger that stopped at his street, encompassing his house, Murtha won the election in the newly formed district

13.
United States Capitol
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The United States Capitol, often called the Capitol Building or Capitol Hill, is the home of the United States Congress, and the seat of the legislative branch of the U. S. federal government. It sits atop Capitol Hill at the end of the National Mall in Washington. Though not at the center of the Federal District, the Capitol forms the origin point for the Districts street-numbering system. The original building was completed in 1800 and was subsequently expanded, like the principal buildings of the executive and judicial branches, the Capitol is built in a distinctive neoclassical style and has a white exterior. Both its east and west elevations are referred to as fronts, though only the east front was intended for the reception of visitors. In 2014, scaffolding was erected around the dome for a project scheduled to be completed by early 2017. All exterior scaffolding was removed by the end of summer 2016, prior to establishing the nations capital in Washington, D. C. the United States Congress and its predecessors had met in Philadelphia, New York City, and a number of other locations. In September 1774, the First Continental Congress brought together delegates from the colonies in Philadelphia, followed by the Second Continental Congress, Congress requested that John Dickinson, the Governor of Pennsylvania, call up the militia to defend Congress from attacks by the protesters. In what became known as the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783, Dickinson sympathized with the protesters and refused to remove them from Philadelphia. As a result, Congress was forced to flee to Princeton, New Jersey, on June 21,1783, and met in Annapolis, Maryland, the United States Congress was established upon ratification of the United States Constitution and formally began on March 4,1789. New York City remained home to Congress until July 1790, when the Residence Act was passed to pave the way for a permanent capital. As part of the legislation, Philadelphia was chosen as a capital for ten years, until the nations capital in Washington. Pierre Charles LEnfant was given the task of creating the city plan for the new capital city, in reviewing LEnfants plan, Thomas Jefferson insisted the legislative building be called the Capitol rather than Congress House. The word Capitol comes from Latin and is associated with the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on Capitoline Hill, the connection between the two is not, however, crystal clear. In spring 1792, United States Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson proposed a competition to solicit designs for the Capitol and the Presidents House. The prize for the competition was $500 and a lot in the Federal City, the most promising of the submissions was by Stephen Hallet, a trained French architect. However, Hallets designs were overly fancy, with too much French influence, a late entry by amateur architect William Thornton was submitted on January 31,1793, to much praise for its Grandeur, Simplicity, and Beauty by Washington, along with praise from Thomas Jefferson. Thornton was inspired by the east front of the Louvre, as well as the Paris Pantheon for the portion of the design

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Cannon House Office Building
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The Cannon House Office Building, completed in 1908, is the oldest congressional office building as well as a significant example of the Beaux-Arts style of architecture. It occupies a site south of the United States Capitol bounded by Independence Avenue, First Street, New Jersey Avenue, in 1962 the building was named for former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Joseph Gurney Cannon. The first congressional office buildings were constructed immediately after the turn of the 20th century to relieve overcrowding in the United States Capitol, previously, members who wanted office space had to rent quarters or borrow space in committee rooms. In March 1901 Congress authorized Architect of the Capitol Edward Clark to draw plans for office buildings for both the House and Senate adjacent to the Capitol grounds. In March 1903 the acquisition of sites and construction of the buildings were authorized, in April 1904 the prominent New York City architectural firm of Carrère and Hastings was retained. Thomas Hastings took charge of the House Office Building project, while John Carrère oversaw the construction of an almost identical office building for the United States Senate and their Beaux Arts designs were restrained complements to the Capitol. The Cannon Building was occupied during the 60th Congress in December 1907, originally there were 397 offices and fourteen committee rooms in the Cannon Building, the 1932 remodeling resulted in 85 two- or three-room suites,10 single rooms, and 23 committee rooms. Architecturally, the elevations are divided into a base and a colonnade with an entablature. The colonnades with thirty-four Doric columns that face the Capitol are echoed by pilasters on the sides of the building, the Cannon Building is faced with marble and limestone, while the Senates the Russell Buildings base and terrace are gray granite. Both the Cannon Building and the Russell Building are connected to the Capitol by underground passages, of special architectural interest is the rotunda. Eighteen Corinthian columns support an entablature and a dome, whose glazed oculus floods the rotunda with natural light. Twin marble staircases lead from the rotunda to an imposing Caucus Room, which features Corinthian pilasters, an entablature. The Cannon Tunnel connects the Cannon House Office Building to the Capitol, the tunnel is lined with artwork from the annual Congressional Art Competition for high school students. Branching off the entrance to Cannon Tunnel is a tunnel to the Longworth House Office Building, and entrances to a cafeteria, shoe shiner/cobbler. Unlike the tunnels from the Capitol to the Senate Office Buildings and the Rayburn tunnel, the Cannon Tunnel has no subway line, in January 2015, a top-to-bottom renovation of the Cannon House Office Building began. Completion is expected to take ten years and cost $752.7 million, initially, renovation will be focused on upgrading the building utilities, but will progress on to a wing-by-wing exterior and interior reconstruction. According to Bill Weidemeyer, the building is plagued by safety, health, many of the buildings systems are original from the 1908 construction. This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Government document Cannon House Office Building, Cannon Renewal Project FAQs, Architect of the Capitol Ghosts of DC blog, Three Bits of Trivia About the Cannon House Office Building

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Ford House Office Building
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The Ford House Office Building is one of the four office buildings containing U. S. House of Representatives staff in Washington, D. C. on Capitol Hill. Instead, it primarily houses committee staff and other offices, including the Architect of the Capitol, prior to the construction of the Ford Building, the site was the home to the Bell School and Zion Wesley Chapel. Construction of the began in 1939 as part of the Works Progress Administration program. The building originally housed the United States Census Bureau from 1940 to 1942, over the years, it was used by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to house its Latent Print Unit. Thousands of fingerprint records were housed in the building, requiring manual search techniques to find a match, the unit was one of the first to move to the FBIs J. Edgar Hoover Building upon its completion in 1974. Following the FBIs departure, the building was purchased by the Architect of the Capitol and was renamed House Annex-2, in the late 1980s, the Democratic and Republican parties were each permitted to rename a House Annex building. Ford House Office Building Architect of the Capitol

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Longworth House Office Building
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The Longworth House Office Building is one of three office buildings used by the United States House of Representatives. The building is located south of the Capitol, bounded by Independence Avenue, New Jersey Avenue, C Street S. E. and South Capitol Street, the building was named in 1962 in honor of the former Speaker of the House, Nicholas Longworth of Ohio. He served as Speaker from 1925 until Republicans lost their majority in 1931, the year he died. Plans to provide the House of Representatives with an office building were begun in 1925. Severe overcrowding in the Cannon House Office Building led to the renovation of the Cannon Building and it is the smallest House office building, with a floor area of just under 600,000 square feet. Under the direction of Architect of the Capitol David Lynn, preliminary designs for the building were prepared by a firm known as The Allied Architects of Washington Inc. The principal architects were Frank Upman, Gilbert LaCoste Rodier, Nathan C and they produced two schemes for a simple, dignified building in harmony with the rest of the Capitol Complex. In January 1929 Congress authorized $8.4 million for acquiring and clearing the site, the foundations were completed in December 1930, and the building was accepted for occupancy in April 1933. It is currently the meeting room for the House Ways and Means Committee, because of its position on a sloping site, the rusticated base of the Longworth Building varies in height from two to four stories. Above this granite base stand the three floors, which are faced with white marble. Ionic columns supporting a well-proportioned entablature are used for the buildings five porticoes, two additional stories are partially hidden by a marble balustrade. It presents a more restrained appearance than the neighboring Cannon Building. The Longworth Building takes its place along with the National Gallery of Art, three Bits of Trivia About the Longworth House Office Building - Ghosts of DC blog post 3D SketchUp model of the Longworth House Office Building for use in Google Earth

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Rayburn House Office Building
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Rayburn is named after former Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn. It was completed in 1965 and at 2.375 million square feet is the largest congressional office building, Rayburn was completed in early 1965 and is home to the offices of 169 Representatives. Earlier efforts to space for the House of Representatives had included the construction of the Cannon House Office Building. In March 1955, House Speaker Sam Rayburn introduced an amendment for a third House office building, although no site had been identified, no study had been done. The cornerstone was laid in May 1962, and full occupancy began in February 1965, the Architect of the Capitol, J. The Capitol Subway System, a transportation system, connects the building to the Capitol. Pedestrian tunnels also connect the Rayburn building to the Capitol and to the Longworth House Office Building and this system allows the Rayburn building to be connected to most of the Congressional office buildings on Capitol Hill via tunnel. For construction of the Rayburn House Office Building, the Congressional bill appropriated $2 million plus such additional sums as may be necessary, such additional sums eventually totaled $88 million. Congressional leaders inserted a gymnasium into the plans, a fact that was not publicly known at the time of construction. Also in the third floor basement is a shooting range run by the U. S. Capitol Police, the raid led to members of both parties questioning the constitutionality of the action, and a subsequent hearing by the House Judiciary Committee. On May 26,2006, at 10,30 am local time, the Capitol complex was sealed off, and staff in the building were told to stay in their offices after the building was put into lockdown by the United States Capitol Police. Some parts of the lockdown were removed, though other areas remained sealed, congressman Jim Saxton was reportedly the source of the false alarm, after he mistook construction sounds in the garage for gunfire. Congressional office buildings Cannon House Office Building Ford House Office Building Longworth House Office Building The Rayburn House Office Building, media related to Rayburn House Office Building at Wikimedia Commons

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Director of National Intelligence
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Further, by Presidential Policy Directive 19 signed by Barack Obama in October 2012, the DNI was given overall responsibility for Intelligence Community whistleblowing and source protection. Only one of the two positions can be held by an officer at any given time. The statute does not specify what rank the officer will hold during his or her tenure in either position. On July 20,2010, President Obama nominated retired Lt. Gen. James R. Clapper for the position, Clapper was confirmed by the Senate on August 5,2010, and replaced acting Director David C. The prior DNI was retired Navy four-star admiral Dennis C, blair, whose resignation became effective May 28,2010. Before the DNI was formally established, the head of the Intelligence Community was the Director of Central Intelligence, senators Dianne Feinstein, Jay Rockefeller and Bob Graham introduced S.2645 on June 19,2002, to create the Director of National Intelligence position. President George W. Bush signed the bill into law on December 17,2004, in addition, the law required the CIA Director to report his agencys activities to the DNI. Critics say compromises during the bills crafting led to the establishment of a DNI whose powers are too weak to lead, manage. In particular, the law left the United States Department of Defense in charge of the National Security Agency, the National Reconnaissance Office, and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. On February 17,2005, President George W. Bush named US Ambassador to Iraq John Negroponte to the post, pending confirmation by the Senate. Negroponte was confirmed by a Senate vote of 98 to 2 in favor of his appointment on April 21,2005, on February 13,2007, John Michael McConnell became the 2nd Director of National Intelligence, after Negroponte was appointed Deputy Secretary of State. Donald M. Kerr was confirmed by the U. S. Senate to be Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence on October 4,2007 and sworn in on October 9,2007. Declan McCullagh at News. com wrote on August 24,2007 and this effectively made the DNI website invisible to all search engines and in turn, any search queries. Ross Feinstein, Spokesman for the DNI, said that the cloaking was removed as of September 3,2007, were not even sure how got there – but it was again somehow hidden the next day. Another blog entry by McCullagh on September 7, states that the DNI site should now be open to search engines, robots. txt has been configured to allow access to all directories for any agent. In September 2007, the Office of the DNI released Intelligence Community 100 Day &500 Day Plans for Integration & Collaboration and these plans include a series of initiatives designed to build the foundation for increased cooperation and reform of the U. S. The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 established the Office of the Director of National Intelligence as an independent agency to assist the DNI, the ODNIs goal is to effectively integrate foreign, military and domestic intelligence in defense of the homeland and of United States interests abroad. The budget for the ODNI and the Intelligence Community for fiscal year 2013 was $52.6 billion, the ODNI has about 1,750 employees

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Central Intelligence Agency
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As one of the principal members of the U. S. Intelligence Community, the CIA reports to the Director of National Intelligence and is focused on providing intelligence for the President. Though it is not the only U. S. government agency specializing in HUMINT and it exerts foreign political influence through its tactical divisions, such as the Special Activities Division. Despite transferring some of its powers to the DNI, the CIA has grown in size as a result of the September 11 attacks. In 2013, The Washington Post reported that in fiscal year 2010, the CIA has increasingly expanded its roles, including covert paramilitary operations. One of its largest divisions, the Information Operations Center, has shifted focus from counter-terrorism to offensive cyber-operations, when the CIA was created, its purpose was to create a clearinghouse for foreign policy intelligence and analysis. Today its primary purpose is to collect, analyze, evaluate, and disseminate foreign intelligence, warning/informing American leaders of important overseas events, with Pakistan described as an intractable target. Counterintelligence, with China, Russia, Iran, Cuba, the Executive Office also supports the U. S. military by providing it with information it gathers, receiving information from military intelligence organizations, and cooperates on field activities. The Executive Director is in charge of the day to day operation of the CIA, each branch of the military service has its own Director. The Directorate has four regional groups, six groups for transnational issues. There is a dedicated to Iraq, regional analytical offices covering the Near East and South Asia, Russia and Europe, and the Asian Pacific, Latin American. The Directorate of Operations is responsible for collecting intelligence. The name reflects its role as the coordinator of intelligence activities between other elements of the wider U. S. intelligence community with their own HUMINT operations. This Directorate was created in an attempt to end years of rivalry over influence, philosophy, in spite of this, the Department of Defense recently organized its own global clandestine intelligence service, the Defense Clandestine Service, under the Defense Intelligence Agency. This Directorate is known to be organized by regions and issues. The Directorate of Science & Technology was established to research, create, many of its innovations were transferred to other intelligence organizations, or, as they became more overt, to the military services. For example, the development of the U-2 high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft was done in cooperation with the United States Air Force, the U-2s original mission was clandestine imagery intelligence over denied areas such as the Soviet Union. It was subsequently provided with signals intelligence and measurement and signature intelligence capabilities, subsequently, NPIC was transferred to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency

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Defense Intelligence Agency
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The Defense Intelligence Agency is an external intelligence service of the United States federal government specializing in defense and military intelligence. It also provides assistance, integration and coordination across uniformed military service intelligence components. The agencys role encompasses the collection and analysis of military-related foreign political, economic, industrial, geographic, DIA produces approximately one-fourth of all intelligence content that goes into the Presidents Daily Brief. DIAs intelligence operations extend beyond the zones of combat, and approximately half of its employees serve overseas at hundreds of locations, the agency specializes in collection and analysis of human-source intelligence, both overt and clandestine, while also handling American military-diplomatic relations abroad. DIA concurrently serves as the manager for the highly technical measurement and signature intelligence. The agency has no law enforcement authority, but it is portrayed so in American popular culture. DIA has a tradition of marking unclassified deaths of its employees on the organizations Memorial Wall and he is the primary intelligence adviser to the Secretary of Defense and also answers to the Director of National Intelligence. Additionally, he chairs the Military Intelligence Board, which coordinates activities of the defense intelligence community. DIA is headquartered in Washington, D. C. on Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, with operational activities at the Pentagon, at each Unified Combatant Command. Embassies around the world, where it alongside other government partners. Additionally, the agency has staff deployed at the Col. James N, DIA and the Central Intelligence Agency are distinct organizations with different functions. DIA focuses on national level defense-military topics, while CIA is concentrated on broader, more general needs of the President. DIA is not a collective of all U. S. military intelligence units, DIA does, however, lead coordination efforts with the military intelligence units and with the national DOD intelligence services in its role as chair of the Military Intelligence Board. It globally deploys teams of officers, interrogation experts, field analysts, linguists, technical specialists. Defense Attache System, DAS represents the United States in defense and it also manages and conducts overt human intelligence collection activities. Defense Attaches serve from Defense Attache Offices co-located at more than a hundred United States Embassies in foreign nations, Defense Attaches also represent the Secretary of Defense in diplomatic relations with foreign governments and militaries and coordinate military activities with partner nations. Defense Cover Office – DCO is a DIA component responsible for executing cover programs for agencys intelligence operatives, Directorate for Analysis, The Directorate of Analysis manages the all-source analysis elements of DIA. Analysts contribute to the Presidents Daily Brief and the National Intelligence Estimates, analysts serve DIA in all of the agencys facilities as well as globally in the field

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United States Department of Energy
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The United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States Government concerned with the United States policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material. It also directs research in genomics, the Human Genome Project originated in a DOE initiative, DOE sponsors more research in the physical sciences than any other U. S. federal agency, the majority of which is conducted through its system of National Laboratories. Former Governor of Texas Rick Perry is the current Secretary of Energy and he was confirmed by a 62 to 37 vote in the United States Senate on March 2,2017. In 1942, during World War II, the United States started the Manhattan Project, after the war in 1946, the Atomic Energy Commission was created to control the future of the project. The 1973 oil crisis called attention to the need to consolidate energy policy, on August 4,1977, President Jimmy Carter signed into law The Department of Energy Organization Act of 1977, which created the Department of Energy. Former Secretary of Defense James Schlesinger, who served under Presidents Nixon, a DOE spokesperson denied that phrases had been banned. In December 1999, the FBI was investigating how China obtained plans for a nuclear device. Wen Ho Lee was accused of stealing nuclear secrets from Los Alamos National Laboratory for the Peoples Republic of China, Federal officials, including then-Energy Secretary Bill Richardson, publicly named Lee as a suspect before he was charged with a crime. The U. S. Congress held hearings to investigate the Department of Energys mishandling of his case, republican senators thought that an independent agency should be in charge of nuclear weapons and security issues, not the Department of Energy. All but one of the 59 charges against Lee were eventually dropped because the investigation proved that the plans the Chinese obtained could not have come from Lee. Lee filed suit and won a $1.6 million settlement against the federal government, the department is under the control and supervision of a United States Secretary of Energy, a political appointee of the President of the United States. The Energy Secretary is assisted in managing the department by a United States Deputy Secretary of Energy, also appointed by the president, the department also has three under secretaries, each appointed by the president, who oversee the major areas of the departments work. The president also appoints seven officials with the rank of Assistant Secretary of Energy who have line management responsibility for major elements of the Department. The Energy Secretary assigns their functions and duties. S.4 billion budget request for DOE for fiscal year 2010, including $2.3 billion for the DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. The budget aims to expand the use of renewable energy sources while improving energy transmission infrastructure. It also makes significant investments in hybrids and plug-in hybrids, in smart grid technologies, most of the stimulus spending was in the form of grants and contracts. The contractor guarantees the energy improvements will generate savings, and after the contract ends, in loan guarantees, a conditional commitment requires to meet an equity commitment, as well as other conditions, before the loan guarantee is completed. The DOE budget includes $280 million to fund eight Energy Innovation Hubs, yet another hub will develop smart materials that will allow the electrical grid to adapt and respond to changing conditions

The 113 stars on the CIA Memorial Wall in the original CIA headquarters, each representing a CIA officer killed in action

Suspended from the ceiling of the glass enclosed atrium: three models of the U-2, Lockheed A-12, and D-21drone. These models are exact replicas at one-sixth scale of the real planes. All three had photographic capabilities. The U-2 was one of the first espionage planes developed by the CIA. The A-12 set unheralded flight records. The D-21 drone was one of the first unmanned aircraft ever built. Lockheed Martin Corporation donated all three models to the CIA.

"Operation Somalia Express" was an 18-month investigation which included the coordinated takedown of a 44-member international narcotics-trafficking organization responsible for smuggling more than 25 tons of khat from the Horn of Africa to the United States.

Gerrymandering in the United States has been practiced since the founding of the country to strengthen the power of …

"The Gerry-mander" first appeared in this cartoon-map in the Boston Gazette, 26 March 1812.

Printed in March 1812, this political cartoon was drawn in reaction to the newly drawn Congressional electoral district of South Essex County drawn by the Massachusetts legislature to favour the Democratic-Republican Party candidates of Governor Elbridge Gerry over the Federalists. The caricature satirizes the bizarre shape of a district in Essex County, Massachusetts as a dragon-like "monster." Federalist newspapers editors and others at the time likened the district shape to a salamander, and the word gerrymander was a blend of that word and Governor Gerry's last name.

U.S. congressional districts covering Travis County, Texas (outlined in red) in 2002, left, and 2004, right. In 2003, the majority of Republicans in the Texas legislature redistricted the state, diluting the voting power of the heavily Democratic county by parceling its residents out to more Republican districts.